Magnetic absolute position sensor

ABSTRACT

Position sensor for determining the number of repeating courses of movement of an object and of the precise posture of the object in relation to a reference posture, wherein the position sensor has the following: a Wiegand module, which is composed of a Wiegand wire having a coil that surrounds the Wiegand wire; a magnetic temporary storage, which is in addition to the Wiegand module; a first sensor element and a second sensor element; a processing electronic circuit, which is configured to evaluate or to determine an output signal that is output by the sensor elements and an information that is stored in the magnetic temporary storage; and a permanent magnet arrangement, which is movable relatively to the Wiegand module in one direction as well as in a direction that is opposite to said one direction, wherein the permanent magnet arrangement is configured to be arranged at the object such that the permanent magnet arrangement performs the repeating courses of movement together with the object; wherein: upon movement of the permanent magnet arrangement in said one direction, the coil of the Wiegand module produces a voltage impulse, if a north pole or a south pole of the permanent magnet arrangement is located at a first position, and, upon movement of the permanent magnet arrangement in said opposite direction, the coil of the Wiegand module produces the voltage impulse, if the north pole or the south pole of the permanent magnet arrangement is located at a second position that is different from the first position; upon movement of the permanent magnet arrangement, the magnetic poles of the permanent magnet arrangement come to pass the magnetic temporary storage such that the magnetic temporary storage stores the information, which indicates, whether the north pole or the south pole of the permanent magnet arrangement has lastly come to pass the magnetic temporary storage; in an autonomous mode, in which the position sensor is not supplied with outside energy, the processing electronic circuit is supplied with energy, which is provided by the Wiegand module; the processing electronic circuit is configured to, after the determining of the voltage impulse, which is output from the Wiegand module, to determine a value, which corresponds to a number of repeating courses of movement of the permanent magnet arrangement, namely by the evaluation of the output signal of the first sensor element; in a non-autonomous mode, in which the position sensor is supplied with outside energy, the processing electronic circuit is further configured to continuously receive posture information about the precise posture of the permanent magnet arrangement in relation to the reference posture, to combine the posture information with the determined value, and to output the combined information, namely by the evaluation of the output signal of at least the second sensor element; and, if the outside energy supply is re-established again after a discontinuation, the combining of the posture information with the determined value is effected by taking into consideration the information, which is stored in the magnetic temporary storage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the filing dates of the Germanpatent application no. DE 10 2016 209 497.1 filed May 31, 2016, of theGerman patent application no. DE 10 2016 213 528.7 filed Jul. 22, 2016and of the German patent application no. DE 10 2017 203 676.1 filed Mar.7, 2017, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a magnetic absolute position sensor, inparticular a position sensor for determining the number of repeatingcourses of movement of an object and the precise posture (or position)of the object in relation to a reference posture.

TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

From the state of the art, a magnetic absolute position sensor is knownfrom the documents DE 10 2007 039 051 A1 and DE 10 2011 002 179 A1.

The document DE 10 2007 039 051 A1 describes a rotatory absoluteposition sensor, which is capable to determine on the one hand anangular posture of a permanent magnet and, on the other hand, to count anumber of revolutions of the permanent magnet as well as to store avalue, which corresponds to said number, in a non-volatile memory. Theabsolute posture of the permanent magnet may be detected from the value,which corresponds to said number, and the current angular posture.

If an outside energy supply is at least temporarily not available, thedescribed sensor is capable to continuously keep counting the number ofrevolutions and to store the number in the non-volatile memory. Thesensor receives the energy, which is necessary for this, from a Wiegandmodule, which provides voltage impulses in defined temporary intervalsas a function of the frequency of the revolutions of the permanentmagnet, wherein the voltage impulses are used, beside the energy supply,for counting the revolutions.

As long as the outside energy supply is not available, the angularposture of the permanent magnet is not determined.

If the outside energy supply is switched on again and/or if it isavailable again, the angular posture of the permanent magnet may bedetermined immediately.

For obtaining the absolute position of the permanent magnet again, it isnecessary to synchronize the value, which is stored in the non-volatilememory, with the angular posture.

In this connection, the following difficulty exists.

If, after the generation of the voltage impulse by the Wiegand module, achange of the movement direction of the permanent magnet is effected,the risk exists that the next voltage impulse, which would have to occurregularly, is rudimentary, and therefore is not recognized. If,afterwards, the sensor and/or the permanent magnet comes to a standstillin a particular (unfavourable) angular range, and if the outside energyis switched off, a synchronization and a resumption of the operation ofthe sensor cannot be performed reliably upon re-establishment of theoutside energy supply, because there is no unambiguity (or uniqueness)about via which way (or path) the permanent magnet has come to its lastposture.

The developed ambiguity could be lifted by further moving the permanentmagnet further, and by sensing the next voltage impulse produced by theWiegand module. However, it is not always possible to move the permanentmagnet further. In this case, it is necessary to find out in another wayvia which way (or path) the permanent magnet has come to its currentposture, in order to establish an error-free position sensor.

In this connection, the patent document DE 10 2011 002179 A1 proposes toevaluate the magnetization direction of the Wiegand wire in order toobtain information about the path of movement.

This is performed, on the one hand, by a magnetic sensor, which isarranged in the vicinity of the Wiegand wire, and which detects themagnetization direction of the Wiegand wire.

On the other hand, the possibility exists to supply the coil, which iswound around the Wiegand wire, with current, in order to achieve areversal of magnetism of the Wiegand wire, and to evaluate the strengthof current, which is necessary for this.

However, both variants have disadvantages.

The remanence (or residual magnetism) of the Wiegand wire is very small,such that the magnetic sensor has to be very precise in order to be ableto detect the magnetization direction of the Wiegand wire.

In contrast, the supply of the coil, which is wound around the Wiegandwire, with current causes additional component parts and thus costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In front of this background, there may be a need to provide an absoluteposition sensor, which can be synchronized easily and efficiently.

According to an embodiment example of the present invention, there isprovided an absolute position sensor according to the patent claim 1.Further embodiment examples of the invention are described in thedependent claims.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a position sensoraccording to the invention, which may be for determining the number ofrepeating courses of movement of an object and the precise posture ofthe object in relation to a reference posture, may comprise thefollowing:

a Wiegand module, which may be composed of a Wiegand wire that may havea coil that may surround the Wiegand wire;

a magnetic temporary storage, which may be in addition to the Wiegandmodule;

a first sensor element;

a processing electronic circuit, which may be configured to evaluate orto determine an output signal that is output from the first sensorelement and an information that may be stored in the magnetic temporarystorage; and

a permanent magnet arrangement, which may be movable relatively to theWiegand module in one direction as well as in a direction that may beopposite to said one direction, wherein the permanent magnet arrangementmay be configured to be arranged at the object such that the permanentmagnet arrangement may perform the repeating courses of movementtogether with the object; wherein:

upon movement of the permanent magnet arrangement in said one direction,the coil of the Wiegand module may generate a voltage impulse, if anorth pole or a south pole of the permanent magnet arrangement may belocated at a first position, and, upon movement of the permanent magnetarrangement in said opposite direction, the coil of the Wiegand modulemay generate the voltage impulse, if the north pole or the south pole ofthe permanent magnet arrangement may be located at a second positionthat is different from the first position.

The number of repeating courses of movement of the object, which may bedetermined by the position sensor, may correspond preferably to thenumber of repeating revolutions of the object.

The permanent magnet arrangement may have one or more magnets—generallystated 2n magnets (wherein n=1, 2, 3, . . . , m).

It is believed that by the relative movement of the permanent magnetarrangement with respect to the Wiegand module, there may be effected achange of the magnetic field of the permanent magnet arrangement assensed by the Wiegand module. The Wiegand wire, which may preferably bemanufactured from Vicalloy, may be formed in particular/advantageouslyof a soft-magnetic core having a hard-magnetic shell. Thisimplementation may result in a physical characteristics of the Wiegandmodule and/or of the Wiegand wire to the effect that a sudden change ofthe orientation of the Weiβ domains/magnetic domains of the Wiegand wire(macroscopic Barkhausen effect) is believed to be effected as from aparticular amplitude of the magnetic field. This change may lead in turnto the generation of the voltage impulse in the coil of the Wiegandmodule. As a function of in which direction the permanent magnetarrangement moves, i.e. in said one direction or in the direction thatis opposite to said one direction, the north pole or the south pole ofthe permanent magnet arrangement may be located at the mentioned firstor second position upon generation of the voltage impulse. The mentionedvoltage impulse may be obtained in particular/advantageously,if—starting from a state, in which the core and the shell have the samemagnetic orientation—the Weiβ domains/magnetic domains of thesoft-magnetic core change their direction abruptly upon reaching theamplitude of the magnetic field. Upon a further movement of thepermanent magnet arrangement in the same direction, it believed thatthere is also effected an according change of the Weiβ domains/magneticdomains of the hard-magnetic shell due to the further increase of theamplitude. However, the impulse, which may thereby be generated, may bemuch smaller and advantageously is not evaluated.

Generally stated, a Wiegand wire may preferably be understood to be awire, which may have a hard-magnetic shell and a soft-magnetic core, orpreferably a soft-magnetic shell and a hard-magnetic core, wherein inthe intended use of the position sensor according to the invention thewire may preferably be operated bipolarly/symmetrically, i.e. the Weiβdomains/magnetic domains of both the shell and the core are believed tochange their orientations by a change of the amplitude and orientationof the magnetic field of the permanent magnet arrangement.

Upon movement of the permanent magnet arrangement, the magnetic poles ofthe permanent magnet arrangement may come to pass by the magnetictemporary storage, such that the magnetic temporary storage may storeinformation, which may indicate, whether the north pole or the southpole of the permanent magnet arrangement may have lastly come to passthe magnetic temporary storage.

In an autonomous mode, in which the position sensor may not be suppliedwith outside energy, the processing electronic circuit may be providedwith energy, which may be provided by the Wiegand module.

The energy, which may be provided by the Wiegand module, may betemporarily stored in an energy storage, preferably in a capacitor. Theenergy storage in turn may supply the processing electronic circuit withthe correspondingly stored energy.

The processing electronic circuit may be configured to, after thedetermination of the voltage impulse, which may output by the Wiegandmodule, determine a value, which may correspond to the number ofrepeating courses of movement of the permanent magnet arrangement,namely by the evaluation of the output signal of the first sensorelement.

If, for example, the processing electronic circuit determines by theevaluation of the output signal of the first sensor element, after thedetection of the voltage impulse, that one of the magnetic poles of thepermanent magnet arrangement is located at the first position, then, dueto the functionality of the Wiegand wire, it may be concluded from thisthat the permanent magnet arrangement may move in said one direction.However, if the processing electronic circuit determines, afterdetecting the voltage impulse, that one of the magnetic poles of thepermanent magnet arrangement is located at the second position, it maybe concluded from this that the permanent magnet arrangement may move inthe direction that is opposite to said one direction. Thus, on the basisof the output signal of the first sensor element, the processingelectronic circuit may be capable to obtain direction information aboutwhether the permanent magnet arrangement moves in said one direction orin said opposite direction

The processing electronic circuit, after the detection of the voltageimpulse, may be capable to obtain, in addition, magnetic poleinformation whether the north pole or the south pole of the permanentmagnet arrangement is located at the first position or the secondposition. This magnetic pole information may be obtained by anevaluation of the output signal of the first sensor element or by adetermination of the polarity of the voltage impulse, which may begenerated by the coil of the Wiegand module.

The processing electronic circuit may determine the number of repeatingcourses of movement on the basis of the obtained direction informationand magnetic pole information. The according value may preferably bestored in a data storage.

The resolution of the number of repeating courses of movement may dependon the number of the permanent magnets and/or of the magnetic poles ofthe permanent magnet arrangement. If the above-mentioned parameter n=1,then the resolution may be 0.5. Upon increase of the parameter n, theresolution may increase accordingly.

Preferably, the processing electronic circuit may be configured todetermine the number of repeating courses of movementdirection-dependently (or as a function of the movement direction). Thatis, a sign may be assigned to said one direction and to said oppositedirection, such that the direction information, which may be obtained bythe processing electronic circuit, may be subject to a sign (or issigned) and the number of repeating courses of movement may either beincreased or reduced as a function of the direction, in which thepermanent magnet arrangement may move.

Alternatively or additionally, the processing electronic circuit may beconfigured to determine the amount of the repeating courses of movementdirection-independently (or independently of the movement direction).That is, the direction information, which may be obtained by theprocessing electronic circuit, may not be signed (may not be assigned asign), such that the number of repeating courses of movement may beincreased independently from the direction, in which the permanentmagnet arrangement may move.

In a non-autonomous mode, in which the position sensor may be suppliedwith outside energy, the processing electronic circuit may further beconfigured to obtain continuously posture information about the preciseposture of the permanent magnet arrangement in relation to the referenceposture, to combine the posture information with the determined value,and to output the combined information, namely by the evaluation of theoutput signal of either the first sensor element or of a second sensorelement.

The first sensor element may be embodied such that its output signal maybe evaluated both for determining the value, which may indicate thenumber of repeating courses of movement, and also for determining theposture information about the precise posture. For example, in thiscase, the first sensor element may concern GMR and/or AMR elements,which may provide, preferably simultaneously, two sinus signals whichmay be phase-shifted to one another (e.g. a sinus signal and a cosinesignal), or at least two Hall elements, which also may provide,preferably simultaneously, sinus signals, which may also bephase-shifted to one another (e.g. sinus signal and cosine signal).

Alternatively to this, the first sensor element may exclusively servefor the determination of the value, which may indicate the number ofrepeating courses of movement, and the second sensor element mayexclusively serve for the determination of the posture information aboutthe precise posture. In this case, the first sensor element may concern,for example, one single Hall element, a plurality of Hall elements, oran additional coil that may additionally be wound around the Wiegandwire. In this case, the second sensor element may concern sensorelements, which may be known from the state of the art, such as forexample: (i) optical sensor elements, (ii) inductive sensor elements,(iii) capacitive sensor elements, and (iv) resistive sensor elements.

The continuous posture information about the precise posture of thepermanent magnet arrangement may be determined by the output signal ofthe first or the second sensor element. Thus, the corresponding sensorelement may serve for the fine resolution of the position sensor.

The continuous posture information about the precise posture of theobject may be obtained, if the position sensor is [operating] in thenon-autonomous mode, in which the corresponding sensor element issupplied with the outside energy.

The position sensor according to the invention may be considered to bean absolute position sensor for the reason, because, even upon adiscontinuation of the outside energy supply, it may be capable tofurther determine the value of the number of repeating courses ofmovements, and, after the external energy supply may be available again,it may be configured to determine the absolute position of the permanentmagnet arrangement from the determined value and the current preciseposture of the permanent magnet arrangement in relation to the referenceposture.

If the outside energy supply is re-established again after adiscontinuation, the combining of the posture information with thedetermined value may be effected by taking into consideration theinformation, which may be stored in the magnetic temporary storage.

If the position sensor according to the invention is [operating] in theautonomous mode, and particular courses of movement of the permanentmagnet arrangement show up, the case may occur that the Wiegand moduleprovides rudimentary voltage impulses.

If, after a rudimentary voltage impulse, the position sensor accordingto the invention transitions into the non-autonomous mode, the permanentmagnet arrangement may be located in postures, which it could reach viadifferent paths (or ways).

For determining this path (or way), the information, which may be storedin the magnetic temporary storage and which may indicate, which one ofthe magnetic poles of the permanent magnet arrangement may lastly havecome to pass the magnetic temporary storage, thus in which direction thepermanent magnet arrangement may have moved in order to come to itscurrent posture, may be used.

When taking into consideration the information, which may be stored inthe magnetic temporary storage, the combining of the posture informationwith the value of the number of repeating courses of movement can beperformed error-freely.

Further preferably, the information, which may be stored in the magnetictemporary storage, is stored as a single bit.

Further preferably, the magnetic temporary storage may be magnetized inone of two magnetization states as a function of whether the north poleor the south pole of the permanent magnet arrangement may lastly havecome to pass the magnetic temporary storage.

The magnetization state of the magnetic temporary storage may reliablyindicate, which magnetic pole of the permanent magnet arrangement maylastly have come to pass magnetic temporary storage. The magnetizationstate of the magnetic temporary storage may be preserved as long as theother magnetic pole of the permanent magnet arrangement may not havecome to pass the magnetic temporary storage and thus may not havechanged the magnetization state.

Further preferably, the magnetic temporary storage may be read out by aHall element that may be connected to the processing electronic circuit.

The Hall element may be spatially arranged relatively to the magnetictemporary storage such that it may be capable to detect themagnetization state of the magnetic temporary storage.

Further preferably, the magnetic temporary storage may be a metalelement.

Preferably, the metal element may be a ferromagnetic element, which maybe made, for example, from iron, nickel or cobalt. The magnetictemporary storage may thus be a simple, cost-efficient and reliablecomponent part, which can be realized easily.

Further preferably, the material, from which the metal element may bemade, may have a remanence (or residual magnetism), which may be higherthan that of the Wiegand wire.

Further preferably, the processing electronic circuit may comprise thefirst sensor element, the second sensor element, the magnetic temporarystorage, and a micro-controller for determining the posture information.

Furthermore, the following can be said about the sensor elements.

The first sensor element is, for example, an additional coil, which mayadditionally surround the Wiegand wire, and the processing electroniccircuit may be configured to obtain the direction information byevaluating a temporal occurrence of the output signal of the additionalcoil in relation to the voltage impulse.

In particular, the additional coil may be spatially offset in relationto the coil of the Wiegand module.

The processing electronic circuit may be configured to evaluate thetemporal occurrence of the output signal and/or of the voltage impulseof the additional coil with respect to the voltage impulse of the coilof the Wiegand module, and to determine on the basis of this, whetherthe permanent magnet arrangement moves in said one direction or in thedirection that is opposite to said one direction.

The processing electronic circuit may obtain the magnetic poleinformation by evaluating either the polarity of the voltage impulse ofthe coil of the Wiegand module or the polarity of the voltage impulse ofthe additional coil.

Alternatively, the first sensor element may be at least a first Hallelement, wherein the first Hall element may be arranged such that theprocessing electronic circuit may obtain the direction information bythe evaluation of the output signal of the first Hall element.

As has been explained above, it is believed that the magnetic domains ofthe Wiegand wire abruptly change their orientation, if (i) the permanentmagnet arrangement may move in said one direction and one of themagnetic poles of the permanent magnet arrangement may reach the firstposition, or if (ii) the permanent magnet arrangement may move in thedirection that may be opposite to said one direction, and one of themagnetic poles of the permanent magnet arrangement may reach the secondposition.

The arrangement (positioning) of the first Hall element may preferablybe selected such that, after the determination of the voltage impulse ofthe Wiegand module, the first Hall element (i) may provide no outputsignal, if the permanent magnet arrangement may move in said onedirection, and one of the magnetic poles of the permanent magnetarrangement may be located at the first position, and (ii) may providean output signal, if the permanent magnet arrangement may move in thedirection that may be opposite to said one direction, and one of themagnetic poles of the permanent magnet arrangement may be located at thesecond position.

Alternatively, the first Hall element may also be arranged such that,after the detection of the voltage impulse, it may still provide anoutput signal independently of the direction, in which the permanentmagnet arrangement may move. In this case, for the obtainment of thedirection information, the processing electronic circuit may evaluatethe output signal of the first Hall element in that it may put inrelation the magnetic pole, which may be recognized by the first Hallelement with the polarity of the voltage impulse.

Particularly preferably, the first sensor element may contain a secondHall element, wherein the first Hall element and the second Hall elementmay be arranged such that the processing electronic circuit (i) mayredundantly obtains the direction information by the evaluation of theoutput signal of the first Hall element and the output signal of thesecond Hall element, and (ii) may redundantly obtain the magnetic poleinformation by the determination of the polarity of the voltage impulsethat may be generated by the coil of the Wiegand module, by theevaluation of the output signal of the first Hall element, and by theevaluation of the output signal of the second Hall element.

As has been mentioned already, the first and the second Hall element mayalso serve in addition for the determination of the position informationabout the precise posture of the permanent magnet arrangement.

The Hall elements and the processing electronic circuit (except for themagnetic temporary storage, if this is formed from the simple metalelement) may preferably be integrated together in a common integratedcircuit on a measurement substrate, wherein the integrated circuit maybe based either on a uniform integration technology, for example theCMOS technology, or on different integration technologies, for examplethe CMOS and the FRAM technology.

Particularly preferably, the magnetic temporary storage (and preferablyalso the corresponding Hall element provided for reading out thetemporary storage) may be arranged such that the magnetic temporarystorage may not impair the sensor element provided for the determinationof the precise posture and/or may not generate an interference field (ornoise field) for the determination of the precise posture of thepermanent magnet arrangement. To this end, the temporary storage and thecorresponding Hall element may also be arranged on a separate,correspondingly remote chip.

In the autonomous mode, the first and the second Hall element and theprocessing electronic circuit may be supplied with energy, which may beprovided by the Wiegand module.

The first Hall element and the second Hall element may be arranged suchthat the processing electronic circuit may obtain, by the evaluation ofthe output signal of the first Hall element and the output signal of thesecond Hall element, at least redundant direction information aboutwhether the permanent magnet arrangement moves in said one direction orin said opposite direction.

The processing electronic circuit may evaluate the output signals of theHall elements for the obtainment of the redundant direction informationpreferably by comparing the output signals and/or output voltages of theHall elements with corresponding fixed voltage thresholds.

Preferably, the first Hall element and the second Hall element may bearranged such that the processing electronic circuit obtains, by theevaluation of the voltage impulse of the Wiegand module, the outputsignal of the first Hall element and the output signal of the secondHall element, redundant direction and magnetic pole informations aboutwhether the north or south pole may be located at the first or secondposition, and whether the permanent magnet arrangement may move in saidone direction or in said opposite direction.

The mentioned redundant direction and magnetic pole informations may beobtained by the processing electronic circuit in particular if the firstHall element and the second Hall element are arranged such that theyoutput output signals, which may be of different height (according totheir amount, in their signal strength), as a function of whether, afterthe detection of the voltage impulse, the north or the south pole may belocated at the first or at the second position.

Particularly preferably, the first Hall element may be arrangedcorresponding according to the first position and the second Hallelement may be arranged corresponding to the second position.

Stated differently, the first Hall element, upon movement of thepermanent magnet arrangement in said one direction, may output an outputsignal, which may correspond to the north pole or to the south pole uponoccurrence and/or after the detection of the voltage impulse of theWiegand module, whereby the second Hall element may not output an outputsignal upon occurrence and/or after the detection of the voltageimpulse. Upon a reversal of the movement direction of the permanentmagnet arrangement, i.e. if the permanent magnet arrangement moves insaid opposite direction, the second Hall element may output an outputsignal, which may correspond to the north pole or to the south pole uponoccurrence and/or after detection of the voltage impulse, whereby thefirst Hall element may not provide an output signal upon occurrenceand/or after detection of the voltage impulse.

The redundant direction information with respect to the movementdirection of the permanent magnet arrangement may be obtained by theprocessing electronic circuit by evaluating the different output signalsof the Hall elements, whereas the redundant magnetic pole informationwith respect to the polarity of the permanent magnet arrangement, i.e.whether the north pole or the south pole is located at the first or atthe second position, may be obtained by the processing electroniccircuit by the output signal of the Hall element assigned to thecorresponding position and by the polarity of the voltage impulse, whichmay be output by the Wiegand module.

Alternatively, the mentioned redundant direction and magnetic poleinformations may be obtained in particular by the processing electroniccircuit, if the first Hall element and the second Hall element arearranged such that they output output signals of a same height(according to their amount, in their signal strength) as a function ofwhether the north pole or the south pole is, after the detection of thevoltage impulse, located at the first or at the second position.

In this case, the processing electronic circuit may evaluate the outputsignals of the first and the second Hall element for the obtainment ofthe redundant direction information in that it puts the magnetic pole,which may have been recognized by the first Hall element, in relationwith the polarity of the voltage impulse, and likewise the magneticpole, which may have been recognized by the second Hall element, may beput in relation with the polarity of the voltage impulse.

The redundant magnetic pole information may be obtained by theevaluation of the output signals of the first and/or of the second Hallelement and the polarity of the voltage impulse which may be output fromthe Wiegand module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention are describedwith reference to the appended drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an absolute position sensor accordingto the invention according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,wherein the position sensor is embodied such that it is capable todetect an absolute position (or posture) of a rotating permanent magnet;

FIG. 2 shows schematically the electronic composition of the absoluteposition sensor according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a positionsensor 1000 according to the invention.

The position sensor 1000 may comprise a Wiegand module 1100, which mayhave, on one hand, a Wiegand wire 1101 and, on the other hand, a coil(not shown) which may be wound and/or runs around the Wiegand wire 1101,and a permanent magnet arrangement 1200, which may be composed of arectangular permanent magnet 1201 in this preferred embodiment. Thepermanent magnet 1201 may also be cylindrical or may have any otherregular shape.

The permanent magnet arrangement 1200 may be rotatably supported suchthat a north pole N and a south pole S of the permanent magnetarrangement 1200 may rotate (or revolve) about a rotation axis DA. Therotation direction may either be in one direction, for example theclockwise direction, or in a direction that may be opposite to said onedirection, the counter-clockwise direction. In an intended use of theposition sensor 1000, the permanent magnet arrangement 1200 may be fixedto a rotating object to be monitored, such that the rotation axis DA ofthe permanent magnet arrangement 1200 may correspond to the rotationaxis of the object and the permanent magnet arrangement 1200 may thusrotate together with the object to be monitored.

The Wiegand wire 1101 may be composed of a soft-magnetic core and ahard-magnetic shell. Upon rotation of the permanent magnet arrangement1200, the domains and/or Weiβ domains of the Wiegand wire 1101 arebelieved to abruptly change their orientation as from a particularchange and/or rotation of the magnetic field, whereby as a result ofthis, a voltage impulse may be effected, which may be generated by thecoil that may be wound around the Wiegand wire 1101. Due to theformation of the Wiegand wire 1101 from a soft- and a hard-magneticportion (core and shell), the abrupt change of the orientation of thedomains may be effected, as a function of the rotation direction of thepermanent magnet arrangement 1200, in different postures (or positions)of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200.

If, starting from a posture, in which a longitudinal axis of therectangular permanent magnet may be oriented parallel to a longitudinalaxis LAW of the Wiegand module 1100, the permanent magnet arrangement1200 may rotate, for example in the clockwise direction, the abruptchange of the orientation of the domains may result after a rotation ofthe rectangular-shaped permanent magnet 1201 about ca. 135°. In thisposture of the permanent magnet 1201, either the corresponding northpole N or the south pole S may be located at a first position.

On the contrary, if, starting from the explained starting posture, thepermanent magnet arrangement 1200 may rotate in the counter-clockwisedirection, the abrupt change of the orientation of the domains mayresult after a rotation of the rectangular-shaped permanent magnet 1201about ca. 135°, whereby in this posture of the permanent magnet 1201,the north pole N or the south pole S may be located at a secondposition, which may be different from the first position.

Beside the Wiegand module 1100 and the permanent magnet arrangement1200, the position sensor 1000 according to the invention and accordingto the preferred embodiment of the invention may further comprise ameasurement substrate 1300, which may preferably have a square shape. Ascan be seen in FIG. 1, the measurement substrate 1300 may be arrangedbetween the Wiegand module 1100 and the permanent magnet arrangement1200, wherein the measurement substrate 1300 may be in a measurementplane, which may extend preferably parallel to the movement plane, inwhich the rectangular-shaped permanent magnet 1201 may rotate and/orwhich may stand perpendicular to the rotation axis.

A plurality of Hall elements a to d (first sensor elements), a furtherplurality of Hall elements A to D (second sensor elements), and amagnetic temporary storage MZ may be arranged on the measurementsubstrate 1300.

The plurality of Hall elements a to d, the further plurality of Hallelements A to D, and the magnetic temporary storage MZ are well visiblein the perspective view according to FIG. 1.

Each one of the Hall elements A to D may be located, respectively, bothat an outer edge of the measurement substrate 1300 and also at a centerof an edge of the corresponding outer edge of the measurement substrate1300.

In addition, the Hall elements A to D, which may be formed quadrangular,may be twistedly arranged at the center of an edge such that a diagonal,which may connect two corners of the respective Hall element, may standperpendicular to the corresponding outer edge.

The magnetic temporary storage MZ may preferably be arranged on themeasurement substrate 1300 on a diagonal D1 between the Hall elements Band C.

The Hall elements (second sensor elements) A to D may be operated inparticular in a non-autonomous mode of the position sensor 1000, inwhich the position sensor 1000 may be supplied with outside energy (orexternal energy), and their output signals may be output to amicro-controller 3100, which may be a part of the processing electroniccircuit, and which may still not have to be explained in the following.On this basis, the micro-controller may calculate the precise angularposture (posture information) of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200and/or of the object in relation to a reference posture. In thisrespect, the Hall elements A to D may be used for the fine resolution.

Furthermore, in the non-autonomous mode not only the precise angularposture of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200, but also the value,which may reflect the number of repeating courses of movement and/orrotations of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200, can be determinedfrom the output signals of the second sensor elements A to D.

Beside the explained Hall elements A to D, also the Hall elements (firstsensor elements) a to d may be arranged on the measurement substrate1300, wherein the Hall elements a to d are arranged may be slightlyoffset to the Hall elements A to D, respectively.

In particular, in an autonomous mode, in which the position sensor 1000may not be supplied with outside energy, the Hall elements a to d may benecessary for determining the value, which may indicate the number ofrotations and/or revolutions of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200.

The output signals of the Hall elements a to d may also be used in thenon-autonomous mode for determining the number of rotations and/orrevolutions of the permanent magnet arrangement.

If the permanent magnet 1201 of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200rotates about the rotation axis DA in the clockwise direction, theabrupt changes of the domains of the Wiegand wire 1101 may be effected,as has been explained above, if the north pole N or the south pole S islocated at the explained first position.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, this first position may correspond, in themeasurement plane, approximately to the position of the Hall element B.Stated differently, the first position and the position of the Hallelement B may be located one behind the other and/or one above anotherin the direction of the rotation axis DA.

The Wiegand wire 1101 may also be formed from the soft- andhard-magnetic regions such that the mentioned first position, at whichthe north pole N or the south pole S of the permanent magnet arrangement1200 may be located upon triggering the voltage impulse, may correspondto the position of the Hall element b in the measurement plane. Stateddifferently, in the first position, the north pole N or the south pole Sof the permanent magnet 1201 may be located above the Hall element b.

If the permanent magnet arrangement 1200 is arranged in the posture, inwhich one of the poles is located at the first position, the respectiveother magnetic pole may stand in a same spatial relation to the Hallelement d.

Upon movement of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200 in said oppositedirection, i.e. upon rotation of the rectangular-shaped magnet 1201 inthe counter-clockwise direction, in an equivalent manner, the abruptchange of the orientation of the domains of the Wiegand wire 1101 isbelieved to be effected, if the north pole N or the south pole S of thepermanent magnet arrangement 1200 may be located at a second positionwhich may be different from the first position.

Depending on the embodiment of the Wiegand wire 1101, the secondposition may correspond either to the Hall element c or to the Hallelement C. If the north pole N or the south pole S may be located at thesecond position, the respective other magnetic pole may stand in a samespatial relation to the Hall element a or the Hall element A. The outputsignals of the Hall elements a and c may be evaluated in the same manneras those of the Hall elements b and d.

As a function of in which direction the permanent magnet arrangement1200 may rotate, in the normal case, direction information may beobtained from the output signals of the pairs of the Hall elements a, cand b, d about whether the permanent magnet arrangement 1200 may rotatein said one direction—the clockwise direction—or in the direction thatmay be opposite to said one direction—the counter-clockwise direction—.

In addition, also magnetic pole information about whether the north poleN or the south pole S may be located at the first or at the secondposition may also be obtained from the output signals of the Hallelements a, c and b, d. Insofar, the resolution of the absolute positionsensor 1000 according to the invention in the autonomous mode may be onehalf turn.

The direction information and magnetic pole information, which may havebeen obtained by the evaluation of the output signals of the Hallelements a to d, may be used to determine the value, which may reflectthe number of rotations of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200.

By synchronizing and combining the value, which may reflects the numberof rotations of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200, with the precisecurrent angular posture of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200 inrelation to a reference posture, a combined information, which mayindicate the absolute position (or posture) of the object, can besensed.

Theoretically, the number of the Hall elements a to d can be reduced toone single Hall element.

FIG. 2 shows schematically the composition of the processing electroniccircuit of the absolute position sensor according to the preferredembodiment of the invention.

In the processing electronic circuit of FIG. 2, the Hall elements a tod, the Hall elements A to D, and a Hall element HM may be arranged suchthat their active areas, which may be sensitive to a magnetic field, mayextend in the measurement plane.

For an elimination of interference fields and interference quantities inthe output signals, the respective output signals of the first Hallelements a to d and of the second Hall elements A to D may be evaluatedpair-wisely according to the difference principles. In this connection,the output signals of, for example, the Hall elements A and C may beevaluated such that the portions of the output signals, which may bebased on the magnetic field components that may be oriented oppositelyand that may penetrate the Hall elements A and C, add to one another,whereas the portions of the output signals, which may be based on themagnetic field components that may be oriented similarly and that maypenetrate the Hall elements A and C, may subtract from one another, andthus may cancel each other. The output signals of the other Hallelements B and D, a and c, and b and d may be evaluated likewise.

All the elements, which are contained in FIG. 2 in the square 3200,which is referenced with MIC, may be arranged on the measurementsubstrate and may be electrically connected to a micro-controller 3100,the Wiegand module 1100 and an energy storage 3300. The elementsarranged on the measurement substrate together with the micro-controller3100 may form the processing electronic circuit of the position sensor.The Wiegand module 1100 may arranged on a printed circuit board, onwhich, for example, also the measurement substrate, the energy storage3300 and the micro-controller 3100 may be arranged.

Except for the micro-controller 3100, the processing electronic circuitmay be arranged completely on the measurement substrate 1300, whereinall the elements on the measurement substrate 1300 may be based on anidentical integration technology. Preferably, the measurement substratemay concern a silicon substrate, on which all elements may be realized,for example, in the CMOS integration technology.

In FIG. 2, the shortly-dashed lines/arrows symbolize the course of theself-energy supply, the longly-dashed lines/arrows symbolize the courseof the outside energy supply, the thin-continuous lines/arrows symbolizethe course of the supply by the energy storage 3300, and thethick-continuous lines/arrows symbolize the course of the signals.

The position sensor according to the preferred embodiment may beoperated either in a non-autonomous mode, in which the position sensormay be supplied with outside energy, or in an autonomous mode, in whichthe position sensor may be supplied with energy, which may be stored inthe energy storage 3300.

The processing electronics may comprise a control electronics SE, whichis connected to the Hall elements (A to D) HF for the fine resolutionand via a multiplexer MX to a first amplifier V0.

(Non-Autonomous Mode)

In the non-autonomous mode, the outside energy supply may be effectedvia the micro-controller 3100, which may be connected to the controlelectronics SE for this purpose. The control electronics SE in turn maysupply the Hall elements HF, the multiplexer MX and the first amplifierV0 with the received outside energy and, furthermore, may charge theenergy storage ES, which may preferably be composed of one or morecapacitors, with the outside energy.

In the non-autonomous mode, the control electronic SE may receive 16signals from the second Hall elements A to D, which may be configured inthis variant of the electronic circuit shown in FIG. 2 respectively withtwo current terminals and two Hall voltage terminals. The 16 signals mayresult because the second Hall elements A to D may be operated in a“spinning current” method, in which both the current terminals and theHall voltage terminals of each Hall element A to D may be exchangedonce, and, respectively, also their polarity may be changed once.Insofar, four output signals may result per Hall element A to D, whichmay be transferred to the control electronics SE.

The control electronics SE may output the 16 signals to an input of themultiplexer MX, which may switch the received signals, respectivelyselected one after another, through to its output, and may output [them]via one single line to the first amplifier V0.

The first amplifier V0 may amplify the received signal, and, after theamplification, may output it to the micro-controller 3100. In thisstate, the signal may still be an analog signal, wherein themicro-controller 3100 may convert this signal from analog to digital,and again may receive 16 signals for further processing via ademultiplexer.

On the basis of the received signals, the micro-controller 3100 maycalculate the precise posture (posture information) of the permanentmagnet arrangement in relation to a reference posture, i.e. the angularposture (or angular position) of the permanent magnet 1201.

The four Hall elements a to d, which are referred to by HZ in FIG. 2,may be supplied with energy from the energy storage ES. Since, at leastin the non-autonomous mode, the energy storage ES may be charged withoutside energy, the Hall elements HZ may be supplied indirectly with theoutside energy.

The four Hall elements HZ may output their respective four outputsignals to the control electronics SE, which may process the respectivetwo output signals of the pairs of the Hall elements according to thedifference principle, and thus, in result, may obtain one signal perpair of Hall elements.

The two signals, which may be obtained in result for both pairs, areoutput block-wisely via a second amplifier V1 to two comparators K1/2,and block-wisely via a third amplifier V2 to two comparators K3/4. Twoof the comparators may perform a comparison with a negative voltagethreshold, and the other two of the comparators may perform a comparisonwith a positive voltage threshold, such that each signal, which may havebeen obtained in result according to the difference principle, may becompared with a positive and with a negative voltage threshold.

The four obtained output signals of the comparators K1 to K4 may bereturned, on one hand, to the control electronics SE and, on the otherhand, to the micro-controller 3100. The four obtained output signals ofthe comparators K1 to K4 may allow an interpretation as to in whichposture the permanent magnet arrangement 1200 may be located in relationto the reference posture and/or how the magnetic poles may be oriented.The continuous evaluation of the output signals of the Hall elements,which may occur sequentially one after the other, also may allow aconclusion as to in which direction the permanent magnet arrangement1200 may move (clockwise direction and/or counter-clockwise direction).From this, the value of the repeating courses of movements (revolutions)of the permanent magnet arrangement 1200 can be determined. Thisdetermination may be effected, on one hand, in the micro-controller3100, and, on the other hand, in the control electronics SE, which maystore this value in a volatile data storage FD and/or in a non-volatileNFD. Herein, the volatile data storage FD may be, for example, aregister, which may be based on the CMOS technology. The non-volatiledata storage NFD may be, for example, an EEPROM, which may also be basedon the CMOS technology.

In the non-autonomous mode, the control electronics SE may also supplythe Hall element HM, which may read out the magnetization state of themagnetic temporary storage MZ. The magnetic temporary storage may be,for example, a simple metal element, which may change its magnetizationstate, if one of the poles of the permanent magnet 1201 comes to pass byit. This may be effected by the material from which the magnetictemporary storage may be composed of, being magnetized by the magneticpole which may come to pass, and by a residual magnetization (remanence)remaining in this material even when the pole may have moved further,due to a hysteresis in this material. Thus, the information, which maybe stored in the temporary storage MZ in the form of the residualmagnetisation, may indicate whether the north pole or the south pole ofthe permanent magnet arrangement may have lastly come to pass themagnetic temporary storage MZ. The read-out signal may be transferred,preferably as a 1-bit signal, to the control electronic SE, which inturn may forward the received signal to the micro-controller 3100.

A significant advantage of this arrangement may consist in that noauxiliary energy source may be required in the temporary storage for thestorage of the necessary information, and in that the information may beavailable immediately after the switching-on of the outside energysupply for the correct initialization.

The micro-controller 3100, taking into consideration the signal obtainedfrom the Hall element HM, may combine the value of the repeating coursesof movement with the obtained precise posture of the permanent magnetarrangement, in order to determine the absolute and error-free combinedinformation, and to store it and/or to output it to an application.

(Autonomous Mode)

In some applications, the case may occur that the outside energy supplymay break down or is temporarily not available. In these situations, theprecise posture (posture information) of the permanent magnetarrangement, i.e. the angular position, may be of sub-ordinaterelevance, and may not be determined. However, care may have to be betaken in these situations, that the value, which may indicate the numberof the repeating courses of movement (revolutions) may be continuouslysensed and stored, such that the value may be available again uponre-establishment of the outside energy supply, and may be combined withthe posture information.

If the outside energy supply breaks down and/or is not available, theHall element HM, the four Hall elements HF, the multiplexer MX, and theamplifier V0 may not be operated.

In the autonomous mode, the Wiegand module 1100, which may providevoltage impulses as a function of the velocity of the permanent magnetarrangement in a corresponding frequency, may take over the energysupply.

In the autonomous mode, the control electronic SE may take over thecontrol and the management of the energy supply of the processingelectronic circuit, for example, by rectifying the voltage impulsesprovided by the Wiegand module 1100, and outputting [the voltageimpulses] for charging the energy storage ES.

After a discontinuation of the outside energy supply, the energy storageES may be initially charged completely and/or very strongly.

In the autonomous mode, the energy storage ES may supply the Hallelements HZ, the amplifiers V1/V2, the comparators K1 to K4, the datastorages FD/NFD, and may be discharged in the autonomous mode by thecorresponding energy requirement. As has been explained already, theWiegand module 1100 may provide the voltage impulses, which may be usedfor charging the energy storage ES.

The determination of the value, which may indicate the number ofrepeating courses of movement (revolutions), may be effected similarlyas in the non-autonomous mode by the evaluation of the output signals ofthe comparators.

What is different only, may be that the output signals of the first Hallelements HZ and thus of the comparators may be effected only then, if avoltage impulse of the Wiegand module is detected. The detection as towhether a voltage impulse is present or not is may be performed via acomparator K5.

As has been explained in detail in the preceding, the voltage impulse ofthe Wiegand module 1100 may be triggered as a function of the direction,in which the permanent magnet arrangement may move, if the north pole orthe south pole of the permanent magnet arrangement is located at thefirst or at the second position. Thus, both the orientation of thepermanent magnet arrangement and also its movement direction can bedetermined from the output signals of the comparators K1 to K4. Based onthis, the value, which may indicate the number of the repeating coursesof movement, may be determined, and may be stored in the volatile memoryFD and/or the non-volatile memory NFD.

An output to the micro-controller 3100 may not occur in the autonomousmode.

(Combined Information by Means of Information from the Temporary StorageMZ)

With reference anew to FIG. 1, a possible case is discussed in thefollowing, in which a rudimentary voltage impulse may occur.

If the permanent magnet 1201 is located in a starting posture, in whichits longitudinal axis (north-south-axis) may be oriented parallel to thediagonal D1 and/or the longitudinal axis LAW of the Wiegand wire 1101,and if, starting from this starting posture, the permanent magnet 1201moves in the clockwise direction, the triggering/generation of thevoltage impulse may be effected, if the corresponding magnetic polereaches the first position (Hall element B/b).

If, starting from this posture, the movement direction of the permanentmagnet 1201 immediately reverses, i.e. the permanent magnet 1201 maymove in the counter-clockwise direction, then a rudimentary voltageimpulse may result, if the magnetic pole, which may formerly have beenlocated at the first position (Hall element B/b), reaches the position,which may corresponds to the Hall element A/a and/or if the oppositemagnetic pole reaches the second position (Hall element C/c).

The rudimentary voltage impulse may result in that the counting process,which would have to be performed in this posture, may not be correctlysensed, and in that the position sensor may have in its data storageonly the information that the last counting process has been performedwhen the corresponding magnetic pole may have reached the first position(Hall element B/b). This error can be corrected upon occurrence of thenext (non-rudimentary) voltage impulse.

If the magnetic pole, which may formerly be located at the positioncorresponding to the Hall element A/a, moves in the counter-clockwisedirection so far that it may be located between the Hall elements d, c,and if the position sensor, in this posture, transitions to thenon-autonomous mode, the combining of the value, which may indicate thenumber of the revolutions, with the precise posture of the permanentmagnet 1201 cannot be performed without additional information.

This results in particular from the fact that in this posture, there maybe no ambiguity (or clearness) about whether the magnetic pole may havemoved to its current posture between the Hall element d and the Hallelement c in the clockwise direction or in the counter-clockwisedirection.

This ambiguity would have been restored, if the permanent magnet 1201moved such far that the next voltage impulse occurs.

However, there may be applications, in which the combined informationfrom the value, which may indicate the number of the revolutions, andthe posture information about the precise posture may have to beavailable immediately after the position sensor may have transitionedinto the non-autonomous mode, without having to wait for the nextvoltage impulse and/or to force the next voltage impulse.

As a solution to these problems, the magnetic temporary storage MZ andthe Hall element HM, which may be arranged there below, may be providedin the position sensor according to the invention.

If, for example, after the occurrence of the rudimentary voltage impulsein the above described course of movements, the north pole may belocated between the Hall elements d and c, then the information, whichmay be stored in the magnetic temporary storage MZ and/or themagnetization state of the temporary storage, may indicate inevitablythat the south pole may have lastly come to pass the temporary storageMZ. Thus, by reading out the temporary storage, the processingelectronic circuit may obtain the information that the north pole mayhave reached its current position in the counter-clockwise direction,and can unambiguously perform the combining of the value, which mayindicate the number of the revolutions, with the posture informationabout the precise posture of the permanent magnet 1201.

If the magnetization state and/or the information, which may be storedin the temporary storage MZ, indicates that the north pole has lastlycome to pass the temporary storage MZ, this may mean, that the northpole, starting from the first position, may have reached its currentposture between the Hall elements d and c, in the clockwise direction.Also in this case, the combining of the value, which may indicate thenumber of the revolutions, with the posture information about theprecise posture can be performed unambiguously.

In no case, it may be necessary to wait for the next voltage impulse orto execute an extensive synchronization routine, such as for example thesupply with current of the coil that surrounds the Wiegand wire asdescribed in EP 2 515 084.

It should be noted that the term “comprising” does not exclude otherelements or steps and the “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. Alsoelements described in association with different embodiments may becombined.

It should also be noted that reference signs in the claims shall not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the claims.

1. Position sensor for determining the number of repeating courses ofmovement of an object and the precise posture of the object in relationto a reference posture, wherein the position sensor has the following: aWiegand module, which is composed of a Wiegand wire having a coil, whichsurrounds the Wiegand wire; a magnetic temporary storage, which is inaddition to the Wiegand module; a first sensor element; a processingelectronics circuit, which is configured to evaluate or to determine anoutput signal that is output from the first sensor element and aninformation that is stored in the magnetic temporary storage; and apermanent magnet arrangement, which is movable relatively to the Wiegandmodule in one direction and in a direction that is opposite to said onedirection, wherein the permanent magnet arrangement is configured to bearranged at the object such that the permanent magnet arrangementperforms the repeating courses of movement together with the object;wherein: upon movement of the permanent magnet arrangement in said onedirection, the coil of the Wiegand module produces a voltage impulse, ifa north pole or a south pole of the permanent magnet arrangement islocated at a first position, and upon movement of the permanent magnetarrangement in said opposite direction, the coil of the Wiegand moduleproduces the voltage impulse, if the north pole or the south pole of thepermanent magnet arrangement is located at a second position that isdifferent from the first position; upon movement of the permanent magnetarrangement, the magnetic poles of the permanent magnet arrangement cometo pass the magnetic temporary storage such that the magnetic temporarystorage stores information, which indicates whether the north pole orthe south pole of the permanent magnet arrangement has lastly passed themagnetic temporary storage; in an autonomous mode, in which the positionsensor is not supplied with outside energy, the processing electroniccircuit is supplied with energy, which is provided by the Wiegandmodule; the processing electronic circuit is configured to, after thedetermining of the voltage impulse, which is output by the Wiegandmodule, determine a value, which corresponds to the number of repeatingcourses of movement of the permanent magnet arrangement, namely by theevaluation of the output signal of the first sensor element; in anon-autonomous mode, in which the position sensor is supplied withoutside energy, the processing electronic circuit is further configuredto continuously receive posture information about the precise posture ofthe permanent magnet arrangement in relation to the reference posture,to combine the posture information with the determined value, and tooutput the combined information, namely by the evaluation of the outputsignal of either the first sensor element or of a second sensor element;and if the output energy supply is re-established again after adiscontinuation, the combining of the posture information with thedetermined value is effected by taking into consideration theinformation, which is stored in the magnetic temporary storage. 2.Position sensor according to claim 1, wherein the information, which isstored in the magnetic temporary storage, is stored as a single bit. 3.Position sensor according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic temporarystorage is magnetized in one of two magnetization states as a functionof whether the north pole or the south pole of the permanent magnetarrangement has lastly come to pass the magnetic temporary storage. 4.Position sensor according to claim 3, wherein the magnetic temporarystorage is read out by a Hall element, which is connected to theprocessing electronic circuit.
 5. Position sensor according to claim 1,wherein the magnetic temporary storage is a metal element.
 6. Positionsensor according to claim 5, wherein the material, from which the metalelement is formed, has a residual magnetism, which is higher than thatof the Wiegand wire.
 7. Position sensor according to claim 1, whereinthe processing electronics comprises the first sensor element, thesecond sensor element, the magnetic temporary storage, and amicro-controller for determining the posture information.